Saturday 25 July 1663

Up and to my office setting papers in order for these two or three days, in which I have been hindered a little, and then having intended this day to go to Banstead Downs to see a famous race, I sent Will to get himself ready to go with me, and I also by and by home and put on my riding suit, and being ready came to the office to Sir J. Minnes and Sir W. Batten, and did a little of course at the office this morning, and so by boat to White Hall, where I hear that the race is put off, because the Lords do sit in Parliament to-day. However, having appointed Mr. Creed to come to me to Fox Hall, I went over thither, and after some debate, Creed and I resolved to go to Clapham, to Mr. Gauden’s, who had sent his coach to their place for me because I was to have my horse of him to go to the race. So I went thither by coach and my Will by horse with me; Mr. Creed he went over back again to Westminster to fetch his horse. When I came to Mr. Gauden’s one first thing was to show me his house, which is almost built, wherein he and his family live. I find it very regular and finely contrived, and the gardens and offices about it as convenient and as full of good variety as ever I saw in my life. It is true he hath been censured for laying out so much money; but he tells me that he built it for his brother, who is since dead (the Bishop), who when he should come to be Bishop of Winchester, which he was promised (to which bishoprick at present there is no house), he did intend to dwell here. Besides, with the good husbandry in making his bricks and other things I do not think it costs him so much money as people think and discourse.

By and by to dinner, and in comes Mr. Creed. I saluted Mr. Gauden’s lady, and the young ladies, he having many pretty children, and his sister, the Bishop’s widow; who was, it seems, Sir W. Russel’s daughter, the Treasurer of the Navy; who by her discourse at dinner I find to be very well-bred, and a woman of excellent discourse, even so much as to have my attention all dinner with much more pleasure than I did give to Mr. Creed, whose discourse was mighty merry in inveighing at Mr. Gauden’s victuals that they had at sea the last voyage that he prosecuted, till methought the woman began to take it seriously.

After dinner by Mr. Gauden’s motion we got Mrs. Gauden and her sister to sing to a viall, on which Mr. Gauden’s eldest son (a pretty man, but a simple one methinks) played but very poorly, and the musique bad, but yet I commended it. Only I do find that the ladies have been taught to sing and do sing well now, but that the viall puts them out. I took the viall and played some things from one of their books, Lyra lessons, which they seemed to like well.

Thus we pass an hour or two after dinner and towards the evening we bade them Adieu! and took horse; being resolved that, instead of the race which fails us, we would go to Epsum. So we set out, and being gone a little way I sent home Will to look to the house, and Creed and I rode forward; the road being full of citizens going and coming toward Epsum, where, when we came, we could hear of no lodging, the town so full; but which was better, I went towards Ashted, my old place of pleasure; and there by direction of one goodman Arthur, whom we met on the way, we went to Farmer Page’s, at which direction he and I made good sport, and there we got a lodging in a little hole we could not stand upright in, but rather than go further to look we staid there, and while supper was getting ready I took him to walk up and down behind my cozen Pepys’s house that was, which I find comes little short of what I took it to be when I was a little boy, as things use commonly to appear greater than then when one comes to be a man and knows more, and so up and down in the closes, which I know so well methinks, and account it good fortune that I lie here that I may have opportunity to renew my old walks. It seems there is one Mr. Rouse, they call him the Queen’s Tailor, that lives there now. So to our lodging to supper, and among other meats had a brave dish of cream, the best I ever eat in my life, and with which we pleased ourselves much, and by and by to bed, where, with much ado yet good sport, we made shift to lie, but with little ease, and a little spaniel by us, which has followed us all the way, a pretty dogg, and we believe that follows my horse, and do belong to Mrs. Gauden, which we, therefore, are very careful of.

"which I find comes little short of what I took it to be when I was a little boy, as things use commonly to appear greater than then when one comes to be a man and knows more"..sadly the truth-places that were so big and impressive when one was young don't always look the same when you add a few feet to your height and years to your experience.

But on a happier note.."and among other meats had a brave dish of cream, the best I ever eat in my life" --glad to see Sam is back to having "the best xxxx I've ever eaten" once again!

SIR, though our flight deserves no careOf your enquiry, where we are;Yet for to put you out of doubt,Read but these Lines, you'l smell us out.We having at the Mazard din'd,Where Veal and Mutton open chin'd,Hang on the Shambles ; thence we paceTo Putney's Ferry : Coomes old ChaseWe next pass'd o're, then to the townWhich name of King doth much renowne ;Where having supp'd we went to bed,Our selves and Cattell wearied.

Musarum Delicice: OR, THE MUSES RECREATION.Conteining severall select Pieces of Poetique Wit.The Second Edition,By By Sr. J[ohn] M[ennes] and Ja:[mes] S[mith].LONDON, Printed by J.G.for Henry Herringman, and are to be sold at his Shop, at the Signe of the Anchor in the New Exchange, 1656.http://www.immortalia.com/html/books-and-manusc...

Seems a little sad that a fellow like Sam who had so many good mates only a couple of years ago can now find no better than Creed, a man he heartily distrusts, to show his favorite boyhood place. Still, I suppose John is a good conversationalist and reasonably good company.

The moral of the Mennes-Smith 'drollery' is that the famous curative powers of Epsum Wells's waters have chiefly purgative value, Hard to believe Pepys, bibliophile that he is, is wholly unaware of this and other satyrs of the Comptroller of the Navy in his youth.

"played very poorly,and the musique bad,but yet I commended it" Sam is not"frank" "a little spaniel by us which has followed us all the way.....and do belong to Mrs Gauden,which we,therefore, are very careful." Sam is a notorious dognapper,methinks he did it twice before!:)

So did many in the American South and Mid-South, down to the generation which started dying out in the 1980s. C. 1960, in a Georgia hospital, an orderly looked at writer Flannery O'Connor's dinner tray and observed, "You sho ain't et much."

It's amazing how much Sam can manage to fit into each day. He makes light of the ride itself, almost like a throw away line. The route will have taken him through my home town of Sutton on his way to places I know well,.. Banstead, Epsom and Sutton. These days there are 37 sets of traffic lights through suburbia on this route through Lambeth, Brixton, Streatham, Mitcham, Sutton and thence to Banstead. Today it takes at least an hour to go the 19 miles. I wonder how long it took on horseback. I would have just LOVED to see how things looked in those days. My gt-grandfather told me of MILLIONS of people making there way by foot and cart to the race days at Epsom, making today's Derby Day tame by comparison. I'm not sure what this 'famous race' that Sam refers too is, as the Derby is in June and he referred to it's predecessor last month methinks.

“‘Et’ is still in common usage in parts of the UK”"Sure, and doubtless in parts of the US as well. But I think it’s uncommon enough that the point is worth mentioning for those who aren’t familiar with it."

Thanks Language Hat... it's been 30 years since I've heard "Et" in New Zealand, and then from a UK refugee, I had thought it was just careless speech.

Et is certainly not unusual in the north of England. (it is normal everyday speech), Listen to Stanley Holloway's recording of "Albert and the Lion" to hear it in the vernacular. "Yon lion 'as et our poor Albert..." There is probably a Beatles' song containing it but I can't think of one at present.

The Spaniards hold St. James in the highest veneration, and if their history was to be believed, with good reason. At the battle of Clavijo, fought in the year 841 between Ramiro, king of Leon, and the Moors, when the day was going hard against the Christians, St. James appeared in the field, in his own proper person, armed with a sword of dazzling splendour, and mounted on a white horse, having housings charged with scallop shells, the saints peculiar heraldic cognizance; he slew sixty thousand of the Moorish infidels, gaining the day for Spain and Christianity. The great Spanish order of knighthood, Santiago de Espada—St. James of the Sword —was founded in commemoration of the miraculous event; giving our historian Gibbon occasion to observe that, 'a stupendous metamorphosis was performed in the ninth century, when from a peaceful fisherman of the Lake of Gennesareth, the apostle James was transformed into a valorous knight, who charged at the head of Spanish chivalry in battles against the Moors. -- Chambers' Book of Dayshttp://www.thebookofdays.com/months/july/25.htm

“When I came to Mr. Gauden’s one first thing was to show me his house, which is almost built”(Expanding on Michael Robinson’s annotation above.)

Mr. (afterwards Sir Dennis) Gauden was living at Clapham in 1655. The house mentioned in the text had its principal front facing the common, and an avenue from Wits' Lane led to another front. After Gauden's death the house was bought by William Hewer, and here Pepys died. It was pulled down about 1762, and on its site was built The Elms, sometime the residence of the late Sir Charles Barry, R.A.---Wheatley, 1893.

"I'm not sure what this 'famous race' that Sam refers too is, as the Derby is in June and he referred to it's predecessor last month methinks."

Banstead Downs, which for many centuries meant all the open land stretching from Epsom to Croydon and Reigate, became well known for horse racing in the 17th century. On 20 November 1683, King Charles II and the Duke of York attended a race meeting near the core of the village. The town also gained a reputation as a health resort during that era, becoming famous for its "wholesome air", and London physicians recommended a visit to Banstead to their ailing patients. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banstead#History

Pepys apparently owned a copy, with additional blank leaves bound in for further lessons to be added in Ms., to Playford’s “Musick’s Recreation: on the Lyra Viol. Being a collection of new and excellent lessons.” 165[2]; see Diary, Sat. May 23, 1663.

"... direction of one goodman Arthur, whom we met on the way, ..." Does the description of Arthur as being a goodman mean anything significant, like a tradesman? Or is it just a clarification as being opposite to a badman like a vagabond or highwayman?

"... we made shift to lie, but with little ease, ... and a little spaniel by us, ... a pretty dogg, ... and do belong to Mrs. Gauden, which we, therefore, are very careful of."

http://www.ckcsc.org/ckcsc/ckcsc_inc.nsf/Founde...The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of today is descended from the small Toy Spaniels seen in so many of the 16th, 17th, and 18th century paintings by Titian, Van Dyck, Lely, Stubbs, Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Romney. These paintings show small spaniels with flat heads, high set ears, almond eyes, and rather pointed noses.

During Tudor times, Toy Spaniels were quite common as ladies' pets, but it was under the Stuarts that they were given the royal title of King Charles Spaniels.

History tells us Charles II was seldom seen without two or three spaniels at his heels. So fond was Charles II of his little dogs, he wrote a decree that the King Charles Spaniel should be accepted in any public place, even in the Houses of Parliament where animals were not usually allowed. This decree is still in existence today in England.

During the 16th century, a small type of spaniel was popular among the nobility in England. The people of the time believed that these dogs could keep fleas away, and some even believed that they could prevent forms of stomach illnesses. These dogs were sometimes called the "Spaniel Gentle" or "Comforter", as ladies taking a carriage ride would take a spaniel on their laps to keep them warm during the winter.

Charles I kept a spaniel named Rogue while residing at Carisbrooke Castle; however, it is with Charles II that this breed is closely associated and it was said of him that "His Majesty was seldom seen without his little dogs". There is a myth that he even issued an edict that no spaniels of this type could be denied entry to any public place.

During the reign of William III and Mary II, the long nosed style of spaniel went out of fashion. The Pug was the favored dog at the time in the Netherlands, and with William's Dutch origin, they became popular in England too. At this time interbreeding may have occurred with the Pug, or other flat nosed breeds, as the King Charles took on some Pug-like characteristics

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is one of the largest toy breeds. Historically it was a lap dog, and modern day adults can fill a lap easily. Nonetheless, it is small for a spaniel, with fully-grown adults comparable in size to adolescents of other larger spaniel breeds.

For centuries, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (a namesake of Charles II of Britain) has been recorded in paintings and tapestries together with their aristocratic families. It is obvious from these works of art that Cavaliers were a luxury item and lived "the easy life" as house pets. Although used successfully for shooting small game, the Cavalier’s true purpose has always been that of companion.

Goodman was once a polite term of address, used where Mister (Mr.) would be used today. A man addressed by this title was, however, of a lesser social rank than a man addressed as Mister. Compare Goodwife. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoodwifeThe terms were used in England and Puritan New England. They are perhaps best known today as the forms of address used in Arthur Miller's historical fiction The Crucible, and in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodman_(title)

"It's amazing how much Sam can manage to fit into each day. He makes light of the ride itself, almost like a throw away line. The route will have taken him through my home town of Sutton on his way to places I know well,.. Banstead, Epsom and Sutton. These days there are 37 sets of traffic lights through suburbia on this route through Lambeth, Brixton, Streatham, Mitcham, Sutton and thence to Banstead. Today it takes at least an hour to go the 19 miles. I wonder how long it took on horseback."

I should read ahead, I guess! this is what I was thinking of a couple of days ago when I made my comment about how it would be interesting to try and retrace one of his daily routes. Thanks very much (a decade later) for the modern context of what Pepys is doing, Roger.

And, "et"? I have an image of some old Western movie in my head, but can't think of the actor.

‘course, n. < French cours . . . . 37. of course:a. adjectival. Belonging to the ordinary procedure, custom, or way of the world; customary; natural, to be expected. Now esp. in a matter of course. . . 1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 31v, The friendshippe betweene man and man as it is common so is it of course. . . 1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 109. ⁋3 Their Congratulations and Condoleances are equally Words of Course . . ‘………...Re: ‘ . . up and down in the closes . . ’

‘goodman, n. . . . . 1. Used as a respectful form of address, typically between equals. Chiefly Sc. after Middle English . . . . 2. a. The male head of a household; the master, the householder. . . 3. A man of wealth or social standing who is not a member of the gentry or aristocracy, as a master in a craft or guild, a burgess, a yeoman, etc. Chiefly hist. after 17th cent. . . . . 4. As a title of courtesy or respect . . . . b. Prefixed to the name of a person below the rank of gentleman, as a yeoman, a farmer, or (more widely) any householder. Cf. senses 2a, 3. arch. or hist. after 18th cent. . . ‘…………Re: ‘ . . a brave dish of cream . . ’

The OED gives no meanings for ‘cream’ beyond cream itself so this must be what they supped on, fresh from the cow no doubt - a rare treat in summer for townsfolk - it couldn’t be brought to them as out in the sun it would start to spoil immediately on warm days.